Richard Cohen, Oxymoron

I once worked for an editor who banned the word “oxymoron.” I don’t know why. It’s a good word, meaning a contradiction in terms. The dictionary offers some examples: “wise fool” and “legal murder.” I would like to cite another: Barack Obama. He sends contradictory messages.

That sounds reasonable enough–what are some good examples? Cohen writes:

The fact remains, no matter what Obama says–and almost no matter what he does–the business community deeply feels that he is unsympathetic to them and their goals. They say all they want to do is make an (honest) buck, but to do that they need consistency, predictability and–it would be nice–a pat on the back.

Whatever you think of that, it’s not really an oxymoron. It’s an example of a class of people who have apparently arrived at a conclusion about Obama that doesn’t seem to be rooted in reality. Not even Cohen finds their case persuasive:

My reading of it is not much different than Obama’s, but then I am not a businessman, do not eat in their clubs or fly charter. I do know that many of them feel that Obama is at root a hostile liberal, a former community organizer (this is often cited as if the word “community” was synonymous with communist) who would tinker with God’s most perfect economic system by giving the government an inordinate role. You will look in vain for anything Obama has said to substantiate this view.

Here again Obama’s oxymoronic quality is on display. As with the business community, Obama’s assurances to the pro-Israel community mean little. His precise words are discounted. As with the business community, rumor or anecdote trumps pronouncements or actions–something Obama once said, a pro-Palestinian friend he once had. Something like that. The whisper has more volume than the speech itself. It is an odd state of affairs.

Again, hard to see how this would qualify as an oxymoron.

Maybe Richard Cohen’s old editor banned him from using that word because he didn’t seem to know what it means.

Activism Director and and Co-producer of CounterSpinPeter Hart is the activism director at FAIR. He writes for FAIR's magazine Extra! and is also a co-host and producer of FAIR's syndicated radio show CounterSpin. He is the author of The Oh Really? Factor: Unspinning Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly (Seven Stories Press, 2003). Hart has been interviewed by a number of media outlets, including NBC Nightly News, Fox News Channel's O'Reilly Factor, the Los Angeles Times, Newsday and the Associated Press. He has also appeared on Showtime and in the movie Outfoxed. Follow Peter on Twitter at @peterfhart.

You dont need to LOOK IN VAIN for any of obama’s words that ring anti business.The world is replete with them.Remember his little speech to coal companies where he told them they have the right to carry on- but he would break them with his policies?

…and you certainly don’t have to look in vain for CONs who don’t get the point of the article – the misuse of the word ‘oxymoron’. All the comments here (two from michael e!) prove this.

And regarding michael e’s second comment, I’ll bet the majority of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies never ran a popsicle stand either – some might have inherited a popsicle company, but actually do any hard work – not a chance!

DDB9000 – Excellent. Having watched “Inside Job” a film by Charles Freeman, it is clear that the CEOs who brougt us to where we are right now, were more interested in lining their own pockets than running their companies. What kind of people bet against their own assets? Now, THAT’s an oxymoron.
As for Obama’s business expertise, that’s what economic advisors are for. No one, not even a President of the US, can be expected to have expert knowledge about everything they have to deal with. I’m sick of the republican mantra that Obama hasn’t been in the military, there fore he can’t know anything about the military and he’s never been a CEO so he can’t possibly know anything about business, etc.
You would think they would be delighted that Larry Summers, Tim Geitner and the crew of crooks who were part of bringing our economy down, are now in top positions in the White House.
Are these guys never satisfied?

P.S. Does anyone remember that it was GWBush, MBA Harvard, who got us into a lot of this mess to begin with?
Does “deregulariton” mean anything to anyone?
Surely, there must be an oxoymornic component to a president with an MBA sending us over the edge.

Obama takes moderate political positions on taxation and budgetary matters that are slightly to the left of those taken by the more conservative republican party. Since most businessmen tendto have more conservative political and taxation views, they will tend to favor the more conservative republicans, other things being equal.
The economy was in such dire free fall in the fall of 2008 that obama won their support by default. ANYBODY BUT MORE REPUBLICAN POLICY.
Now that many businesses and wall street financiers have recovered from their sense of facing impending doom, many a self interested enough to be willing to take another flier on conservative republican poliotical and economic policy.
But there is nothing new there. All democrats tend to lose the upper income groups most of the time.
Obama figures he can skate by as long as republicans seem more draconian in their policy prescriptions.